The Windy Gas Mileage Finale

Tuesday morning and we should be home tonight. The park ranger catches us just as I was starting the bike to leave. We pay our $10 and head south to Highway 412 again. We are going against a very strong wind. On 412 this wind is coming from our left and it is a constant lean on the bike to keep from going off of the road. Little did we know that it would be like this for the entire 400 miles to the house. Except that in Oklahoma the wind was bad but when we arrived in Clayton, New Mexico the wind got even stronger. It is a little over 80 miles from Clayton to Springer where the next gas stop is. It should be no problem as I should have a 20 - 30 mile cushion on fuel says the analytical motorcycle rider never thinking about how much worse the wind would get. I have never explained to Linda about the yellow BMW warning light. There is no need to give the girl anything to worry about. When the light comes on I figure that I can make it to Springer with enough gas to make it another 4 miles now as the wind is so much worse. Keeping my eye on the readouts and my mind doing calculations it slowly changes from a 4 mile reserve to a 4 mile deficit and then it gets worse. By now I am doing only 50 mph trying to conserve fuel. And my bride has noticed the yellow light and understands it's significance. She also knows her husband's tendency to wait until the last minute before getting gas. As we pass through the one building metropolis of Moffet I notice an old gas pump there and I pull in. It's Deja Vu again as I remember doing this once before. I put a gallon of who knows what kind of gas in the bike while Linda is giving me the "You've done it again" look. But we make it to Springer never knowing whether we would have made it without the emergency gallon we purchased. I know it would have been close. Now we just need to do the 180 miles south on I-25 against an incredible headwind. But the good news is that it is Tuesday as the winds are supposed to be much worse for the next 2 days. We arrive home at 5 PM, It has been 11 days for me but almost 8 weeks for Linda so she is anxious to check on all of her plants and her house. We will be home for 9 days and then we start another ride going east again to who knows where and for how long.